Sero-prevalence of latent <it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>infection among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A comparative cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Toxoplasmosis in immuno-compromised hosts manifests primarily as a life threatening condition, toxoplasmic encephalitis. However, there is scarce information about the magnitude of <it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>infection among HIV-infected people in Ethiopia. This study was, therefore, conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>infection among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected subjects.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Sera were collected from people with and without HIV infection for the purpose of studying hepatitis B virus (HBV) at St. Paul Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 24 January 2007 to 15 February 2007. Among these sera, the first 330 consecutive sera, 165 from each HIV sero-group, were selected and tested for anti-<it>T. gondii </it>IgG antibodies using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. The seroprevalence of <it>Toxoplasma </it>infection was assessed against socio-demographic characteristics, HIV and HBV serostatus and HBV-related risk factors. The overall sero-prevalence of latent <it>T. gondii </it>infection among the study subjects was 90.0%. <it>Toxoplasma </it>infection was observed with respective prevalence of 93.3% and 86.7% among HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected people. Though <it>Toxoplasma </it>infection seems to be influenced by age, gender and HIV serostatus, only HBV serostatus was significantly associated (OR 2.71, CI 1.12 to 6.57) in multivariate logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The seroprevalence of latent <it>T. gondii </it>infection is high and similar by HIV status. Educating people to prevent acquisition of new <it>Toxoplasma </it>infection and minimizing the risk of disease manifestations among HIV-<it>Toxoplasma </it>co-infected individuals is important.</p